


Paperback

by Tinyomegapup



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Library Focus, Awkward Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Mild Language, med student
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-08-26
Packaged: 2018-04-17 09:32:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4661625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinyomegapup/pseuds/Tinyomegapup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During time off, Sebastian Castellanos takes solace in having a good book and a relaxing space. After meeting a medical student at the local library, Sebastian finds himself looking into someone rather fascinating. Persisting might be a little ridiculous, but it seems like a good idea, so why not?</p><p>Pure fluff. Complete  and total fluff. No doubts that it's fluff. Rating and tags are prone to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AdamIskariot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdamIskariot/gifts).



> I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY uOu Just a fluffy romance story that's my plan just for fun for my little sweetheart smol son and I hope he likes it you better or you're fucking grounded. I'm kidding.
> 
> Yes this is gonna be multichapter I have a bad time writing oneshots without getting carried away fight me

The evening light was beautiful in Krimson City. As usual, Sebastian Castellanos was heading home from work, leaning on the car door and driving through bustling traffic. He had never been annoyed by the constant traffic, unlike many people around him. If you’re living in a city, you have to expect that traffic will back up now and again, especially if you have places to go, things to do. Sunlight filled the space around the tall buildings, and Sebastian was admiring it all as he worked his way home. It wasn’t that his home was too far away from work - his job as a detective consisted of either boring desk work or days that he had to go out in the field. It wasn’t always physically exhausting, but since it was mentally, he liked to take time to sit around and drive instead of walk the whole way.

As of that evening, he had to stop at the library. Sebastian wasn’t a huge fan of hobbies that required a lot of energy. Reading was one he could sit around and enjoy without putting in a lot of work. He frequented the library a lot because of this. Reading in the morning, reading on breaks at work, reading if Joseph was driving, reading when he got home if something interesting wasn’t on or the news wasn’t engaging him enough. Reading was something he had grown accustomed to - he even had a chair in the living room he only sat in if he planned on taking a while to read.

There was a break in traffic when Sebastian turned off the main road. Cars were still constant, but things had begun to pick up as he drove to the library. It was just a few blocks from his house, which was nice. The library itself was rather grand. It wasn’t as nice and expensive as the one near the center of the city, but it was one with multiple floors because many college students and the like tended to visit if their own libraries were closed. This one was always open, ready to be a service to people in need of a decent book.

Sebastian pulled into the lot, quick to get out of the car and to the door. He wasn’t really a regular, he wouldn’t think. Nobody really recognized him - or if they did they didn’t say anything about it. The only reason anyone would greet him going in is if they were from the neighborhood and knew him - many people liked living around a detective. It must make them feel safe having an enforcer of the law living just down the street. His personal house number he gave to a few of his direct neighbors. Rarely was he called upon, but some of them had been broken into and had called him up as a result.

The new inventory shelf had nothing of particular interest to Sebastian. He was interested in just about any read, but nothing really caught his eye there. He was more of a fan of older works, something more serious. A few times he had tried to read teen fiction, but always he had thought that it was a little strange or unnecessary.

He resigned to just wandering the shelves, looking from book after book. A few would catch his eye, but then he would read the description and first couple of pages and quickly lose interest. There was now a bit of an ache in his muscles to get home and rest, but he wasn’t prepared to stop just yet. Sure, he had to do a tough chase of a suspect that day, but a good book and a long night’s sleep were just around the corner. He wasn’t going to give up now.

Rounding one of the shelves, Sebastian felt himself collide with something. It wasn’t heavy, but he jumped back in surprise as he looked to see what it was.

Or rather, who.

“Watch where you’re going.”

Sebastian didn’t recognize the man standing in front of him, arms full of books and a glare on his face. Well, what Sebastian could see of his face. His entire head and hands were covered in bandages, but his eyes and nose and thin lips were uncovered. He was glaring, pale eyes glowering in annoyance at Sebastian. Medical books were all in his grasp, and Sebastian instantly pegged the man. Medical student. There was a med school not far from the library, smaller than the public university but full of little geniuses with a lot of aggression and very little tempers.

“Sorry,” he said. The man began to walk by him, haughtiness in his step. Sebastian watched after him, raising a brow as he was in thought. Those eyes, while full of anger, were startlingly stunning. He hadn’t expected to see such beautiful eyes. Normally he kept to himself in libraries and places like that. This man was really something else.

There was an instinct to pursue that formed in him. He wasn’t much for the idea of love at first sight. That kind of crap didn’t exist, he knew that. There was easily lust at first sight, and he wondered for a moment if that was what he was feeling when he saw this young man in front of him.

“Just forget about it,” he muttered. Turning, he began to move on when he felt something under his foot. Looking down, a wallet sat there. Crouching down, he picked it up and flipped it open. There was a student ID sitting in the place someone would typically put their license. “Ruben Victoriano…” The photo looking up at him was obviously of that man. Those pale eyes looking up and full of… Sebastian couldn’t tell. It was mysterious to him, those eyes. Normally he noticed other things about people first but… The way this man looked, his entire face and the way it worked out. It was beautiful.

Turning, Sebastian was going to call for the man when he saw that he was gone. “Shit…”

Sebastian was the type to want to return things instantly. He began to jog around the shelves, looking around for Ruben. He wasn’t in sight. Going to the entrance and the counters, he didn’t see him there either. The parking lot was void of life as well, looking out there. “You can’t be serious…” Sebastian walked back inside to give the wallet over to the front desk. He hesitated, wondering if there was anything that could show where Ruben was living so he could just bring it directly over.

“Don’t be an idiot, give it to the desk, it would be creepy for you to just show up at his house…”

He fished through the wallet anyway, and found himself holding a small key card with a labelled hall. The medical school didn’t really have dorms, they had rented apartment buildings for their students. Sebastian recognized the one on the label. He found himself smirking a little. "Poor kid better have a physical key or he’s not going to be able to get into his place,” he said. The key card was one to swipe. Poor guy, being flustered when he was just trying to get some books.

“Well, I guess I better do the right thing and bring this over there.”

He drove over to the apartments, and found himself grinning when he saw the young man sitting on the steps and on his phone, looking irritated as he talked to the person on the line. Parking, he pulled into the lot and got out of his car, strolling over with his hands in his pockets.

“... I don’t care, I am not going to let Marcelo keep fussing over me if I can’t get into my room he’s going to insist I keep living there,” Ruben’s voice was sharp, cold as ice. It was almost cute. “Can you just let me in?... Why didn’t you tell me you were still at the labs? Useless!” He hung up the phone and sighed, then he spotted Sebastian and looked even more angry. “So the man who bumps into me is suddenly my stalker. Oh joy.”

Stopping a few feet away, Sebastian pulled the wallet out of his pocket. He felt amusement as he saw Ruben light up in front of him, jumping to his feet right away when he recognized his property. “You were so angry that I ran into you that you dropped this. You’re lucky I saw your key card, or I wouldn’t have known where to find you.”

Ruben snatched the wallet from his hands and looked through it to make sure everything was where it belonged. When he was satisfied, he pulled out his key card and eyed Sebastian thoughtfully. “You’re one of the head detectives here in Krimson City, aren’t you?” he said. “I’ve heard about some of your cases. I take an interest in criminology for medical purposes. Things like morticians are a fascinating subject to me.”

“You’re thinking of taking a shot at it?” Sebastian said. He glanced down at the medical books that Ruben had taken from the library. A few of them he noticed were in fact about morticians and morgues. Curious that a man like this would be interested. From the name Victoriano, Sebastian knew this kid was practically swimming in money. Why he was living in the smallest apartment home, why he was just scrambling to remember something like a key card, it was a strange thing indeed.

Ruben nodded a little at his question. “I hope to, yes…” An annoyed look crossed his face and he picked up his books. “Anyway, thank you for returning my wallet. If you’ll excuse me…” He went into the apartment, the door closing behind him. Sebastian watched after him, eyes set on the door. Why did he want to keep talking to this kid exactly? He found himself enjoying the guy’s company. Shrugging, he went to his car and began to drive home.

When he got home, Sebastian stepped up to the small porch and began to fumble with his keys when it hit him.

**He never got a book.**


	2. Thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna write this fluffy stuff!!
> 
> Sorry if the plot doesn't seem solid. It's sort of a Fluff Without Plot basically, but at least it has a little direction! Yooooo

“Sebastian are you listening?”

“Yeah…”

“Sebastian, please focus.”

“Mhm.”

A hand connected with the back of Sebastian’s head, causing him to sit up and be more alert. “What, what? I’m focusing, I’m focusing.” Sebastian sat up straight and looked at Joseph, who was standing just by his desk and looking irritated. “Do you really have to hit me? I’m trying to work.”

“You’re not even listening to me, Sebastian,” Joseph said with a sigh. “I would like for you to actually focus on what I have to tell you instead of… whatever the hell you were thinking about.”

Sebastian had been thinking about those eyes. Since he had gotten home, for the past few days, Sebastian had nothing else on his mind but those eyes. He had looked into Ruben Victoriano in passing the day before, but found there wasn’t much info on him. The ones that were there were sealed off, even from him. Family money could usually do that, but based on the document titles they weren’t criminal in Ruben’s case.

“Well, could you please look over these paper? Kidman was having some trouble on what to class these, and I need you to sign off on these.”

Nodding, Sebastian was very absentminded as he took the papers from Joseph. “I’ll get to these before I head out tonight,” he said, and he began to look over one of the documents. It seemed to satisfy Joseph, because his friend walked away and left him to look at these papers.

“I wonder if he would go for a drink…”

He had no idea why he was thinking about that guy so much. The man seemed pleasant enough, and having him want to be a possible mortician seemed like a good way to get talking to him. A plan had been in the back of his mind for a little while, but he wasn’t sure how well it would go. Ask him for some drinks, try to see if they get along through a few hours, then maybe invite him to visit the morgue and their old mortician. “He would probably like it…”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He felt almost stupid for having this be a concern of his. He had been out of the game for many years now. And he knew that there was quite an age gap between himself and Ruben. What did his ID say? Was he like twenty-eight? Twenty-nine? Someone of his age wouldn’t find any interest in an old dog like Sebastian. How could Sebastian even think he could have a shot at this?

Shaking his head, he looked down at his work, but he could only think of those pale eyes. They were so different, so strange, so lovely. What was wrong with him?

“... I need some air…”

It wasn’t very long until he would be heading home anyway. He stood up and grabbed his coat and began to leave. Joseph was at his own desk, working on something. He looked up when the door to Sebastian’s office closed, and he looked suspicious. “Aren’t you going to look over the files?” he asked. “Why are you heading out? Is everything okay?”

“Feeling a little lightheaded,” Sebastian answered, passing by him. “Going home to try to rest.”

The first location he went before heading home was the library. He hadn’t gotten a book the other day, and had since avoided the library after that. There wasn’t a particular reason why, it didn’t really make sense to avoid a place like that, even if Ruben was who he had met there.

Peering through the shelves, Sebastian found himself wandering to the medical section, looking over book after book. None of this stuff really caught his interest. They were all complicated, things that Sebastian was too lazy to even try to comprehend. “This is why you’re a cop, not a doctor,” he muttered to himself. Letting out a sigh, Sebastian began to turn to walk away when he collided with someone.

“Good evening, detective.”

Sebastian looked into those lovely eyes and smirked. Ruben was looking at him with a rather bored look, arms crossed over his chest and looking Sebastian up and down as though he wasn’t impressed. Sebastian figured he wasn’t impressed anyway but he found it amusing how obvious it was on his face. “What are you doing in the medical section? You don’t seem the type to enjoy it all that much.”

Shrugging, Sebastian stepped aside to let Ruben through. The young man took advantage of it, walking by and stopping at a row of books and looking through them. He took out some books that Sebastian had thought were especially boring. Strange, Ruben had such tastes for things that seemed almost dull compared so some of the other medical books. “Just taking a look. You’re back so soon, hmm?”

“I study a lot,” Ruben replied, looking over at Sebastian. “... You’re going to ask me to dinner or for drinks.”

Sebastian jumped, raising a brow. “What makes you say that?” he asked.

“I can tell by the way you’re looking at me,” he said. “I’ve studied people enough to know when one human is interested in another human. Don’t think I don’t notice the way your voice raises in pitch a bit, possibly sweaty palms, a quickness to your step, quickening speech… Possible blood flow to the loins…”

Needless to say, Sebastian was surprised when Ruben glanced down and then back up to his face, raising a brow at the young medical student. “Well, if you know this, then…?”

“I’m free tomorrow night and I would prefer dinner over just drinking. I drink, but minimally and only on special occasion. If you’re taking me on a date, then I suppose it is a special occasion.” Ruben let out a sigh and placed the books he held unevenly on the shelf so as to grab them quick again. He fished through his pockets before pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. After a moment of writing, he handed Sebastian the paper, which bore a phone number. “If you expect this to work out you will find a good place for us to go, get a reservation, and call me around noon tomorrow as to when and where we are meeting.”

This directness was a surprise to Sebastian. He could tell that Ruben wasn’t used to dates, flirting, the whole thing. Direct and precise, telling Sebastian exactly what he wanted and when he wanted it. That was different, but it made things easier on Sebastian to follow. Pleasing this guy shouldn’t be too hard, right?

“And for your information, I do not find our age difference to be a problem,” Ruben added, catching Sebastian by surprise. “You’re… about forty? A little old for my tastes, but I can make do.”

That was an easy thing for a man in denial about his age to take offense to.

“I’m not even forty, what,” Sebastian replied. “I’m thirty-eight.”

“Of course, my mistake.” Ruben looked him over a little, and smiled. “So Sebastian, it’s a pleasure to meet you and arrange a date, but I must get my books and study.” He began to turn to his books, taking them up and holding them close to his chest.

“Wait how do you know my name?”

Ruben looked over and smiled. “You have your ways, I have mine.”

He walked away without another word, leaving Sebastian holding a piece of paper and slight color to his cheeks. How did this happen so quick? And so direct?

Sebastian picked out a book with little thought over what it was. Anything seemed fine as he checked it out and went home. Right away he found a good place to take Ruben for food, made a reservation, and began to read. But he couldn’t focus on his book, the shock of how well it had gone still playing through his head.

**In a matter of minutes he had gotten himself a date.**


End file.
